Willamette Week - http://www.wweek.com/portland/articles.sec-1440-1-.html
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 00:00:00 -0700enhourly1TARDIS Room: Fish and Spaceships - http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-18746-tardis_room_fish_and_spaceships_.html
For those of you who don’t have BBC America, Doctor Who
is a long-running TV show about a time-traveling alien. So if you fancy
some sci-fi geekery and a chance to get off with some authentic fi]]>Hotseat: Sharon Needles - Meet the dark, spooky future of drag.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19305-hotseat_sharon_needles_meet_the_dark_spooky_future_of_drag.html
Sharon Needles is more Marilyn Manson than Monroe. Drag’s
biggest name at the moment, Needles shocks by taking her characters to
dark places rather than glamorous ones. For example, she won her ]]>Hotseat: Jinkx Monsoon - Meet the Pacific Northwest’s first contestant on the American Idol of drag.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-20193-hotseat_jinkx_monsoon_meet_the_pacific_northwests_first_contestant_on_the_american_idol_of_drag.html
Snatching a spot on RuPaul’s Drag Race is the
quickest way for a drag queen to make it big, and the show’s newest
season features its first contestant from the Pacific Northwest: Jinkx
Monso]]>Strip Club Guide 2014: It’s Not Stripping, It’s Burlesque - Or is it?http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22102-strip_club_guide_2014_its_not_stripping_its_burlesque_or_is_it.html
Portland, correctly or not, is known for its per-capita
plenitude of strip clubs. Its burlesque scene, however, still has a ways
to go if it’s to top San Francisco’s or Seattle’s. We’re mo]]>Hotseat: Julia Sweeney - The actress best known as SNL’s Pat on why atheists should still pray with their parents.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19746-hotseat_julia_sweeney_the_actress_best_known_as_snls_pat_on_why_atheists_should_still_pray_with_thei.html
Portland is officially the least religious city in the
country, according to a recent study. So it’s fitting that the largest
atheist organization in the country, the...]]>Screaming Ban Shes - Why Portland’s gay bars won’t ban bachelorettes.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19340-screaming_ban_shes_why_portlands_gay_bars_wont_ban_bachelorettes.html
It’s the last show at Darcelle XV Showplace on a muggy
Friday night. The audience is a mixed bag: a birthday party in the
center, friends of a drag queen near the wall, a posse of bros in the
]]>Golden Girl - After 20 years, burlesque legend Tiffany Carter dons the catsuit again.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22808-golden_girl_after_20_years_burlesque_legend_tiffany_carter_dons_the_catsuit_again.html
Back in 1965, a Corvallis native named
Teresa Sandford took her first dancing gig. She was underage—only 17—and
she’d been booked as a go-go dancer in Anaheim, Calif. She danced twice
befo]]>The Conquistador: Spanish Fly - http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-18799-the_conquistador_spanish_fly_.html
Since it opened in December, The Conquistador (2045 SE Belmont St.)
has been one of the most popular neighborhood spots in Southeast
Portland. It’s a creation of Casey Maxwell, owner of the Mata]]>Dynamic Duet - On and off the dance floor, Portland sisters Kiera Brinkley and Uriah Boyd know when to push one another.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22423-dynamic_duet_on_and_off_the_dance_floor_portland_sisters_kiera_brinkley_and_uriah_boyd_know_when_to_.html
As sisters, Kiera Brinkley and Uriah Boyd
know siblings don’t get anywhere by being babied. So even as they look
out for each other, they won’t hesitate to make the other do things for
herse]]>American Music Festival (Oregon Ballet Theatre) - Scrappy pride, en pointe.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-20546-american_music_festival_%28oregon_ballet_theatre%29_scrappy_pride_en_pointe.html
Little about ballet is American. Poised,
practiced and, to many, pretentious, it’s antithetical to the unbridled
passion of a country built on freedom, manifest destiny and tea parties.
]]>You Too Are Made of Stars (Wobbly Dance) - Dancing by their own rules to rethink disability.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22188-you_too_are_made_of_stars_%28wobbly_dance%29_dancing_by_their_own_rules_to_rethink_disability.html
Yulia Arakelyan remembers the first day
of an improv dance class led by an experimental choreographer from San
Francisco. “The elevator was broken that day,” she says. “I was carried
up th]]>Bar Guide 2014: Crush Bar - http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22245-bar_guide_2014_crush_bar_.html
Gay bars are passé these days. The queer bar of today
wears so many labels it’s an LGBTIQQA blur. Crush lays it out in its
logo: three pairs of restroom figures—two men, two women, and a man ]]>3x3 (POV Dance) - Climbing up walls and sliding down banisters.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-21730-3x3_%28pov_dance%29_climbing_up_walls_and_sliding_down_banisters.html
The last time POV Dance performed was in
2010, when the company balanced on windowsills and did handstands in the
atrium of Southeast Portland’s Ford Building. The years since have been
eventf]]>Metal Machine Music (Kogut Butoh) - Lou Reed, with white kimonos and candlelight.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22084-metal_machine_music_%28kogut_butoh%29_lou_reed_with_white_kimonos_and_candlelight.html
When Lou Reed’s album Metal Machine Music came out
in 1975, critics assailed it as a contemptuous joke, a smack in their
faces and an immature scrape with career suicide. Now, the album, a
64-]]>Luciana Proaño - From Peru to Portland, with poetry and hammocks.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-21984-luciana_proa%C3%B1o_from_peru_to_portland_with_poetry_and_hammocks.html
In 20 years of performing in Portland,
Luciana Proaño has never gotten significant media attention. She
acknowledges she could do more to promote herself, but by her nature—she
improvises all]]>Alchemy (Lindsey Matheis) - Dance dance revolution.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-21101-alchemy_%28lindsey_matheis%29_dance_dance_revolution.html
Lindsey Matheis is trying to reinvent the way Portland does dance—at least this weekend.
That
she’s attempting it at all is surprising, considering her quiet,
agreeable manner. “It’s not]]>The Sprockettes - The glam-punk, all-female minibike troupe turns 10.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22727-the_sprockettes_the_glam_punk_all_female_minibike_troupe_turns_10.html
Ten years ago, Portland’s bike
scene was burgeoning. Zoobombing—speeding down the West Hills on
blinged-out minibikes—was a new trend. But a group of lady cyclists felt
something was missi]]>Hotseat: Darrin Pufall - Avenue Q’s puppet master lives the plush life.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19615-hotseat_darrin_pufall_avenue_qs_puppet_master_lives_the_plush_life.html
A Portland theater company is tackling Avenue Q, the raunchy, Sesame Street-inspired
musical about existential twentysomethings. The show’s popularity
promises high expectations for Triangle Pro]]>Portland Fall Dance Picks - http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23032-portland_fall_dance_picks_.html
Wanderlust Circus
Oregon Country Fair goers will be familiar with these meta-retro numbers, but the acts have been juiced up for Time Warp,
a circus show and dance party. Wanderlust Circus’ acrob]]>The Royale: Brunch and Burlesque - http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22720-the_royale_brunch_and_burlesque_.html
The closure of Hamburger Mary’s last year left a hole in Portland’s gay nightlife. The Royale (317 NW Broadway, 432-8944),
a new bar in the former Tiger Bar spot on Northwest Broadway, aims to]]>Mattilda Sycamore, Why Are Faggots So Afraid Of Faggots? - Queering consumerist culture.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-18874-mattilda_sycamore_why_are_faggots_so_afraid_of_faggots_queering_consumerist_culture.html
Some gay people prefer to be called faggots. Well, let me rephrase that—some queers
prefer to be called faggots. The word “faggot,” much like “queer,” has
been reappropriated as a word o]]>The Match.com Monologues (CoHo Productions) - Looking for computer love.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19443-the_matchcom_monologues_%28coho_productions%29_looking_for_computer_love.html
Forgive me if this review is overly
critical. I was pissed when I saw this show because my date flaked.
Apparently, 10:30 pm is too late for a show when you have work in the
morning. That left m]]>Perfume Genius: Tuesday, April 17 - Mike Hadreas’ music is plenty family-friendly—he just comes from an intense family.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19034-perfume_genius_tuesday_april_17_mike_hadreas_music_is_plenty_family_friendly%E2%80%94he_just_comes_f.html
[EDGY POP] You might remember Perfume Genius’ little
YouTube scandal from January. The act’s label, Matador, says a video
advertisement for Perfume Genius’ new album, Put Your Back N 2 It,
]]>Ballerina Xuan Cheng - After strict training in China, an Oregon Ballet Theatre dancer finds joy in the rigor.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23031-ballerina_xuan_cheng_after_strict_training_in_china_an_oregon_ballet_theatre_dancer_finds_joy_in_the.html
Outside of ballet, Xuan Cheng says her life is pretty
boring. She knows people who go on hikes or stay out late partying, but
after rigorous rehearsal, she doesn’t have the energy. Instead, th]]>Punk de Bourrée - How ballet and punk rock keep a Wisconsin farm boy from flying off the rails.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-21246-punk_de_bourr%C3%A9e_how_ballet_and_punk_rock_keep_a_wisconsin_farm_boy_from_flying_off_the_rails.html
Growing up, Michael Linsmeier milked cows in rural
Wisconsin. His family lived in a town of 1,600 people along the shores
of Lake Michigan and grew half the food they ate. Linsmeier spent most
o]]>Light Noise (Lucy Yim) - Contemporary dance strips down and flops around.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-21038-light_noise_%28lucy_yim%29_contemporary_dance_strips_down_and_flops_around.html
On a Sunday afternoon, in a studio off
Southeast Foster Road littered with old blankets, Lucy Yim turns from
her dancers to me. “We’re actually going to do the run in costume,” she
says.
]]>Puente (Diego Piñón) - Bridging the gap, with shamanism and seaweed.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22515-puente_%28diego_pi%C3%B1%C3%B3n%29_bridging_the_gap_with_shamanism_and_seaweed.html
On an August afternoon in the high desert
of central Mexico more than a decade ago, Portland butoh performer Mizu
Desierto found herself blindfolded and tied together with 14 other
people. Runni]]>The Boys In the Band, The Children’s Hour (Defunkt Theatre) - Queering the way.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-20676-the_boys_in_the_band_the_childrens_hour_%28defunkt_theatre%29_queering_the_way.html
Gay culture seems to evolve so quickly
that any snapshot is almost instantly antiquated. Offering a queer eye
to a straight guy today is almost as passé as wearing an earring in your
right ear.]]>American Me (Mizu Desierto) - Stars and stripes and spoon-fed absurdity.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-21611-american_me_%28mizu_desierto%29_stars_and_stripes_and_spoon_fed_absurdity.html
When you think of butoh—if you think of
anything at all—it’s probably bald guys in G-strings and white body
paint staggering around like mimes on acid. That generalization bothers
Mizu Des]]>Art in the Dark (A-WOL Dance Collective) - Dangling from the trees and battling the elements.http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22934-art_in_the_dark_%28a_wol_dance_collective%29_dangling_from_the_trees_and_battling_the_elements.html
The wilderness, though beautiful, can also be deadly. Or
just annoying. So while an outdoor stage is an alluring prospect for an
aerial company accustomed to hanging from ceilings of dusty wareh]]>